Valve of internal-combustion engines.



H. R. RICARDO & H. A. HETHERINGTON.

VALVE OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED IEB.1, 1913.

1,095,355. Patented May 5, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INvE'NToRs H.R.R\0AR00,+H.A.HETHBRING-row ATTORNEY H. R. RICARDO 5? H. A. HETHERINGTON.

VALVE OPINTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLIOATIOH FILED FEB. 1,1913.

Patented May 5, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H.R.RIGARDOP H.A.HETHERINGTON E Y Swami) WW6 ATTORN EY -To all whom it may mm.-

* UNITED STATES: PATENT 5mm 1;

HARRY BAI'PE R A D N AND. HENRY ANSVTRUTHEIR. HETHERINGTON,

OF-IBYFLEET, ENG AN I VALVE or mmnen-oomsusrion nnemns.

Specification of Letters Iatent." Application filed February 1, 1913. v Serial no. 745,698....

' Be it known that we, HARRY RALrH Ricar- D0 and HENRY Ans'rnu'nmn Hn'rmmmo'roiv,

citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and residents of 13- Bedford Square, London, England, and Sandilands, .Byfleet, Surrey, England, respectively, have invented certain.1new .and useful Improvements in or Relating'to the Valves of Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is aspecification, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make andusethe same."

This invention relates to the valve of in-- ternal combustion engines and has particu lar reference to valves of the leaf type which are sometimes employed "Hitherto when a leaf valve has been used as the inlet valve in aninternal combustion-engine it has been so placed that it was not'in direct contact with the gases duringcombustion, that is to M say, it has been in somesituation'wher'e it could notbecome very hot.- According to the present invention'the leaf valve is positioned whereit is directly exposed to thegases at I the time of combustion and it is; -mounted upon' a seating which is cooled as by 'a water jacket so that even in this position the valve cannot becomettoo hot. Preferably the seating itself is placed in close proximity cylinder head and the inlet ports in the seating are distributed in such a manner as to keep the seat-ing'aas cool as possible. Further means 'may .be provided whereby the" heat'is conducted away rapidly from the I seating, a convenient construction being to keep the seating in its place in thecylinder head by means of a hollow plug or head made of copper or some other material which is a good conductor of heat. The valves are preferably made of steel, phosphor bronze or other highly elastic metal. They may be of various shapes but a flat circular or spiral form is preferred.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertlcal section showing a* leaf valve mounted according to this'inven tion in thecylinder head of an internal comthe drawin s.

to some water-cooled portion of the bustion' engine intended to work, on atwo:

Patented Ma 5, 1914 i stroke cycle. Fig. '2 is a-bottomxplan of the I valve-seating with the valve omitted, the position of the'valves being indicatedin broken lines. Fig. 3 isa section on thejline.3-3 of i F ig. 2 Fig. i ls aiplan f of theleaf valve I separately. 'Fig. 5is a plan of another. form longitudinal vertical section. show ing the.

valve illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, mounted'in' the cylinder head of an engineintende ed'to work on a four-stroke cycle, andjFig'.

is a vertical section through a portionof a cylinder head fitted with another, formofthe' valve according to this invention.

I Like lettersindicate like parts throughout With re erence first to Figs. 1, 2, and

it the valve A which is shown separatelyin Flg. tie a flat ring of thin sheet. metal divided at A and secured'by a rivet or-screw whichpasses'through a hole A t0'a'seating B. lIhis'seating is in the .form of ashouldered disk fitting into a recessm'adeto ,re-

ceive it in the walls C of the cylinder. .This disk is provided with aseries of holes B which form the inlet ports which arecontrolled byt-hevalve' A and it willfbeseen that these ports are distributed over a "considerable area of the seating whichis-thus .kept much cooler than would bethelcase if, for example, there were only one large open-'- ing.'- The bottom face of the disk, or seating B is machined or otherwise worked and the valve isso mounted upon itthat when the valve is closed the two surfaces lie'in close contact. Thusthe temperature of the thin metal valve will practically be that of the disk B any difference in theftwo temperatur'es being due merely tothe rate of ca i duction of heat through the thickness of the valve itself. 'As th .Yfilve is of thin sheet metal this difference is very slight.

In order that the temperature of theseat: 3

ing shall be kept as low as possible a plug or head D is provided which screws into the upper part of the cylinder casting and is formed of copper or other material which is a good conductor of heat. The lower part of this plug is pressed into contact with the central portion of'the seating B leaving an annular space through which the mixture or air can circulate on its way to the ports B.

In the example shown t e plug D is hollowed or recessed to give a comparatively large outer surface and to assist in keeping the seating cool. Any other means may be adopted to attain that end, for example, the plug or head may be fitted with channels through which cooling water is circulated but the arrangement shown is found to be sufficient in practice.

It will be seen that the-water jacket '13 of the, cylinder is carried right up into the head so that the metal adjacent to the seating 13 is cooled. This detail of construction to the water cooled surfaces. 4

'' ing mounted so as to make close oontactwith Any wcllknown form of fiat leaf valve may be used provided that it admits of bethe surface of the'seating. Fig. 5 shows an alternative, form of valve by way of example.

As' will be seen this consists of a flat spiral A whichcan be mounted on the seating by means of a screw or rivet through a central hole A.

Fig. 1 shows the invention applied to the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine'intended to work on a two-stroke cycle sfruction in which the valve seating B is' but it may also be employed in an engine working on a four-stroke cycle and such an application is illustrated in Fig. 6. In that figure it will be seen that the seating B is disposed at the top of the casting forming the head of the cylinder and is in close proximity to a water-jacket E. The inlet ports B 1n this construction are opposite to a piston-valve F which controls the exhaust ports G. The space H above the piston-valve F andnnmedmtely beneath the seating B is in d1rect communication with the main cylinder J and forms partof the compression space. As -in the construction shown in F g. 1 an annular stop or guard C is provided in close proximity to the waterjacket E. i t

Fig. 7 illustrates another convenient conformed with a central opening through which the sparking plug is screwed from the top.

messes In this form the seating is kept in placeby" forms an inlet passage leading to the ports B as in the construction shown in Fig. 1 and Fig, 6. p I

There are many' advantages in the em- ..ployment of a thin leaf spring valve in an internal combustion engine. The whole of the valve is composed'of efi'ective springing material and as the rapidity of action of any puppet valve must depend upon theratio which the ower stored in the spring bears to the inertia of-the valve the rapidity of action in a valve of this type where the entire mass of the valve is composed of active springing material must of necessity be much greater than that of even the best designed ordinary pu' pet valve. Again owin to the extreme lig tness of .the valve an the comparatively large area of its working face the valve is practically silent in its action. I

ters Patent is 1. A valve for internal combustion engines comprising a seating, a :leaf valve mounted on said seating'where it is directly exposed What we claim and desire to secureby Letto the gases at the time of combustion, and

a plug or head made of'heat-conducting material adaptedto hold said seating in position and assist in cooling same.

2. A valve for internalcombustion engines comprising a seating, a leaf] valve'mounted on said seating where it is directly exposed to the gases at the time of combustion, a plug or head made of heat-conducting material. adapted to hold said seating in position and y assist in cooling same, and a sparking plug 7 mounted in said plug or head and arranged to pass through both the seating and the' leaf v ve. e v

' 3. A valve for internal combustion engines, comprisinga seating, a leaf valve thereon and a sparking plug so mounted as topass through both valve and seating,

4; valve for internal combustion engines comprising a seatlng having an annular series of ports, a leaf valve on sald seating and covering said ports, a plug or head forming i an annular inlet assa e leading to said ports, and a sparking pug passing through a central aperture in said seating.

5. A valve for internal combustion en- T gines comprising a water-cooled cylinder head, a recess in same, a shouldered disk 'In witnesswhereof we have hereunto set forming1 a. seating and araanged in said reour hands in presence of two witnesses. 10 cess a eaf valve on sai seating and di- HARRY RALPH RICARDO. Y rectly exposed to the gases at the tlme of HENRY ANSTRUTHER HETHEEINGTON" combustion, and a valve-containing recess I formed in the cylinder head beneath the Witnesses: shouldered disk to contain the leaf valve and J 01m TQMTEL,

limit its movement. I HENRY FAIRBRUIHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtsined for he vcents esoh, by addressing the commissioner of Idtnta,

Washington, D. 0. 

